Fertilizer-spreader.



R. H. WATTS. PERTILIZBR SPREADER. APPLICATION FILED 00T.25,1912.

l,l32,@53. Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

nui R adsense..

To all whom it' may concern.'

. Be itknovvn. that l, ltowLaNn H. WATTS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Concord, in the county of Middlesex and`(lcannon-wealth of Massachusetts, have iners-and has particularreference to vehicles adapted to be drawn by horses or otherwise forspreading commercial fertilizer over land upon which crops are to begrown.

@ne object ofthe invention is to provide a spreader of'the .classreferred to which shall beparticularly eiiicient in spreadingl thevarious forms ofniore or less finely divided Acommercial fertilizer.-

A. further object ofthe invention is to provide a spreader which willact eiiiciently to spread 'commercial fertilizer as well whensuchwfertilizer is moist as when it is dry. Some forms of fertilizer arehygroscopic and if `left for a time exposed to the atmosphere willabsorb sufficient moisture to cause forms of spreaders previously usedto become more or less clogged and to spread the fertilizer unevenly ornot at all. A machine constructed in accordance. with my invention willyovercome this difficulty.

Further objects and advantages will appear in the following descriptionof one embodiment ofthe invention, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in

which- Figure l is a plan view of a spreader adapted to be drawn by ateam of horses, the tongue being broken away. Fig. 2 is a side view ofthe same spreader, the tongue being broken away and parts of Athespreader being in section in order to show details.

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view of i the screw threaded clampshown in elevationy in Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters indicate like parts in the differentfigures.

The form of spreader shown in the drawings includes a frame 1 carried byan axle 2 and wheels 3. Secured to the'forward part ofthe frame is atongue l by which a team of horses may draw the spreader. A seat 5 5 isprovided for a driver. l/Yertically supported at the rear of the frameI1 is a hollow cylindrical receptacle 6 1ilateneedMar. 16', 1915.

.application filed October 25, 1912. Serial No. 727,693.

to contain the fertilizer. A bar 7 is fastened'dianietrically across theopen bottom ofthe 'receptacle 6 and at-.fits'center this bar plvotallysupports a screw" 81` extending upwardly along the vertical axis oftherecep-y tacle A\ horizontal plate or platform 9 fits within thereceptacle Gand acts as a support for the fertilizer. The screw- 8passes through a hole-,in the plate=.9 and supports this platefmeansof aseparable clamp v1) engaging, the screw 8 andi secured to the plate 9 bya-conneetion 11. The lower extremities ofthel two portions of the clampare hingcdv'toge'ther and to the connection 11 to allow-the clamp'toopen and close and theclani-p may be heldclosed when-desired by a catchorv lever 12 pivoted to oneportion of the clamp ,.a shoulderxonthe lever12 engag- 'ing a pin. 13' onthe-otherportion ofthe clamp.lThe-inner-faces ofthe two portions of the clamp are screw'l threaded toengage the threads of the screw 8'so that' as the screw 8 is turned bymeans to be described, the clam-p will be moved along the screw and willcarry withvit the plate or support 9.

The axle 2 is turned- Iby the-wheels?) as the spreader isdrawn along'and this axle drives .a shaft lirby lmeans-of asprocket chain 15running on sprocket wheels fixed-to the axle and shaft. Theshaft 14carries an eccentric 16 which oscillatesia pawl 17 by means of aneccentric strap 18 and a connecting rod 19. As the pawl 17 osoillates,it turns a large ratchet wheel 20 step by step and this ratchet wheel,being secured to the screw 8, turns the screw with it. Assuming now thatthe"-t\vo portionsr of the clamp 10 are held together by the catch 12 sothat their threads engage the threads of the screw 8, lthe relation ofparts is such that as the spreader is drawn forwardly along the ground,the screw 8 will force the clamp and the plate 9 slowly and graduallyupward. The fertilizer resting on the plate 9 inthe receptacle (l isthereby fed slowly out of the open top of the receptacle to bedistributed bymeans to be described.

A hollow vertical post 21 extends above the axle 2 and in bearings atthe upper and lower ends of this post is carried a shaft 22 which isturned by the axle 2 thropgh the medium of a pair of bevel gears/2B.

An arm 24 extends'rearwardly` from the' top of the post -21 to a pointover the center of the receptacle 6 where it supports a verarms 27, andto accomplish this, lf extend Ann! tical shaft 25 in a suitable bearing.The upper end of each of the shafts 22 and 25 are provided with sprocketwheels and these two sprocket wheels are operatively connected by asprocket chain 26. Theilower end of the shaft carries horizontal arms 27lying close to and across the top of the receptacle 6. By the train ofmechanisms just described, it is obvious that as the axle 2 revolves itwill rotate the arms 27 in a horizontal plane.

As `the fertilizer is raised slowly by the support 9 into the path ofthe arms 27, these f arms, at each revolution, scrape oil a smallquantity of the fertilizer and throw it by centrifugal force. outwardlyfrom the top of v the receptacle G. It is preferable that the arms 27rotate rapidly enough, usually about six or eight times each second, tothrow the fertilizer so as to be scattered over considerable ground.lWhile the arms 27 are shown in the drawing as being horizontal andwhile now consider this position preferable, these arms might, of'course, slant more or less either upwardly or downwardly from their axisof rotation and still accomplish the same results.

The fertilizer should not be thrown. forwardly so as to strike the seator other parts of the spreader and to prevent this a guard 28'i'.s'provided.V This guard is in the form of a flange extending fromthe forward portion of the upper edge of thel receptacle 6 across theplane in which the arms 27 rotate. The flange 28 is extended rearwardlyconsiderably farther at one sidedof the receptacle G than at the otherside, the greater extension being on that side of the recep-v tacle atwhich the arms 27 move forwardly. lt is obvious that this unequalextensionl of -the iiange 28 is necessary in order that the 'fisdistribution of fertilizer on the two sides of the spreader may besubstantially equal.

inasmuch as no fertilizer is distributed past that portion of the edgeof the receptacle 6 where the flange 28 is located, v'that portion ofthe receptacle 6 between the side of the receptacle under the flange andlits` axis is filled in `by a filler 30, a corresponding sector shapedpiece of the plate 9 being removed so that the plate may fit against 'ithe sides of the iillerSO .and completely fill the open space in thereceptacle 6. i lt is desirable to prevent-the plate 9 from being raisedso far as to strike the rotating the lever beyond its pivot and connectthe free end 'ofthe extension to some fixed point atthe bottom of thereceptacle 6 by a chain 29. The chain 29 is just long enough to allowthe plate 9 tofrise till it is close toY the top of the receptacle 6when substantially all the fertilizer will have been distributed, thechain then becoming tight and. releasing the lever l2 from the pin l3.-f

. plate 9 will begin to rise to cause the fertilizer to be distributedIor spread by the arms 27.

` I do not wish to be limited to the details of construction shown anddescribed, as various changes may be made without departing from thespiritvof' the invention, but

having described one `embodiment of my invention what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is-:-.

A fertilizer spreader including a fern tilizer receptacle with anopening at its top, fertilizer distributing means at the opening, saiddistributing means being revoluble about a substantially vertical axisfor distributing fertilizer in a plurality of angularly `differentdirections, and means for raising fertilizer contained in the receptacleinto the path of the distributing means to be distributed thereby.

.2. A fertilizer spreader including a fertilizer receptacle having anopentop, means for raising fertilizer Within the'receptacle, means forspreading fertilizer inii'jiplurality of angularly different directions1from the edge of the receptacle surrounding the open- `ing in its top,and a guard to prevent spreading of the fertilizer in predetermineddirections. l

3. A fertilizer spreader including a ferin its top,`=a guard at one sideof the recep tacle to prevent the spreading of fertilizer inpredetermined directions, and a filler to prevent fertilizer beingraised at the side of the `receptacle provided with the guard.

4. `it, fertilizer spreader including avfertilizer receptacle with anopening at its top, a horizontal arm yattlie opening,- said arm beingrevoluble about a substantially vertical' axis fordistributingfertilizer in a plurality of angularly different directions,and means for raising fertilizer contained in the receptacle into thepath of the revoluble arm to be distributed thereby.

A fertilizer spreader including a fertilizer receptacle having an opentop, a

substantially horizontal fertilizer spreading arm at the opening, saidarm being revoluble about a substantially `vertical axis, and means forraising fertilizer within `the receptacle into the path ot the 'Iiimemes 6. A fertilizer' spreader including erto said support, and meansfor moving the 10 tilizer spreading means revoluble about a support tocarry fertilizer upwardly into substantially vertical axis, and meansfor the path of sald lspreading means t0 be carrying fertilizer upwardlyinto the path spread thereby.

1 of said spreading` means to be spread Dated this Zitda ofOcteber,1912.

` thereby.

. 0W AND H. WATTS. 7. A fertilizerA spreader including a fer- Witnesses:tilizer support, fertilizer spreading means HERBERT H. YOUNG, revolublein a plane substantially parallel Lucius A. HEssELToN,

